Importance of Milk

Milk, like John and Barbara's nursery, represents youth in a very specific way. Though it is not the twins who drink it, but rather Michael, in the end of "Bad Tuesday" the drinking of milk is presented as a ritual and a fundamental aspect of a young child's bedtime routine. It is associated with night time, vulnerability, warmth, and kindness, especially as it is presented alongside Mary Poppins' reassuring presence and Michael's own fears of abandonment. Michael's small moment of peace, where he sips his milk as slowly as he can in order to keep Mary Poppins by his side, evokes for the reader an image of the warmest, deepest love and sense of safety felt by Michael.